Secrets of NZ speed remain under veil

By HELEN TUNNAH

Team New Zealand's winning boats from the last America's Cup are now officially "resting", but the defenders are saying little about the speed of the all-conquering NZL60.

Syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg said people would just have to wonder about any performance gains made on NZL60 since it defended the cup 2 1/2 years ago until the yacht was decommissioned this week.

"Those are questions I can't answer," he told the Herald.

"I can tell you what you're allowed to do. You can change up to half a boat, half of the hull's surface, and you can put on as many keels as you like and you can change the deck as much as you like.

"Having said that, we don't really talk about what we did do and didn't, and what improvements we made."

NZL60 defended the cup 5-0 against Italy's Prada in 2000, and at the time there was speculation that Team NZ had kept some of the boat's speed tricks secret for this campaign.

Speculation among challengers is that NZL60 has been worked hard since the win, with the team achieving a significant improvement in speed.

Even more talk suggests the team's first new boat for this campaign, NZL81, is already quicker than NZL60, despite being launched just a few weeks ago.

The second boat, NZL82, replaced NZL60 in Team New Zealand's Halsey St base this week, and should be ready for sailing towards the end of the month. The first new rig is also expected to be unveiled this month.

Schnackenberg said the fate of NZL57 and NZL60 had not been decided, but both were "resting" and could be used again if needed.

He said it would be good to keep the yachts in New Zealand as a pair.

"It's hard to imagine ever selling 60 outside New Zealand. But we're fickle, we sailors. Sixty's out the door and next minute everyone's focused on 82 - she's the new girl in town."

Team New Zealand's first cup-winning boats were separated.

NZL32, the 1995 winner, was leased to French syndicate Le Defi for training. It will go on display at Te Papa in Wellington after the regatta.

NZL38 was sold to the Swedish Victory Challenge and renamed Cristina, after the daughter of syndicate founder the late Jan Stenbeck.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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